CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Scarlett
I closed my eyes briefly for a moment. Nothing happened.
Fuck!
Pain exploded in my side as Victor kicked me. The force of it flipped me onto my back and I screamed out in pain as I clutched my stomach. I couldn't take much more. I had to do something now.
"I will break you," he assured me arrogantly as he stood over me. Through my haze of pain I watched as a cruel smile spread across his face. He was enjoying this.
I had to try again before it was too late. My body had already taken a serious beating and I didn't know if I had enough strength to do what I had to. Even in the pain I was in, I got to my knees and I lifted myself onto my shaky legs.
"No you won't, asshole," I spat back and his eyes darkened in anger as he reacted to my provocation. His smile disappeared from his face as his eyes narrowed at me.
In the instant he stepped forward to hit me again, I closed my eyes and this time something happened.
I shifted into my wolf form. The change was excruciating with the added injuries but I remained on all fours. Victor stopped, taken slightly aback at the sudden change. Anger turned to surprise on his face.
I saw the moment the realization hit him that he wasn't in control of the situation anymore. The balance had tipped in my favor. Through my wolf eyes I glared at him as I growled a warning.
He took a step back. I watched as he tried to shift into his wolf form but the wolfsbane I'd injected into his leg earlier prevented him. Fear crept into his features as I took a step closer and growled again.
That injection had been meant for me; the wolfsbane had been wearing off. Without that dose, the existing wolfsbane in my system was negligible and I was able to shift into my wolf form.
His eyes flickered to the door, the only escape out of the room, but before he could try and run I jumped in front of the open door. I could smell his fear in the air as I stepped forward slowly cornering him like he'd done to me only moments before.
The injuries from the beatings were forgotten as adrenaline began to pump through my veins. Victory was within my grasp. My wolf senses fixed on the target in front of me.
"You don't have the stomach to kill someone," he taunted me with a confidence that he clearly didn't feel. The perspiration beginning to form on his forehead and the nervous flicker of his eyes were telltale signs that he didn't believe it and that he was afraid.
I'd never killed anyone before but he was different. He wasn't some innocent person whose death would bring me lifelong guilt. He was the ruthless murderer of my parents. His death would be the justified revenge for what he'd done to my parents and to countless other people.
Payback is a bitch.
I let my eyes take in the sight of the monster one last time before I lunged forward and attacked him. He raised his arms to ward off the attack but in wolf form I was stronger. I knocked him to the ground. Desperately he tried to stand up again but I jumped against him and he landed on his back with a thud as he hit the floor again.
His arm stretched out and his fingers closed around the empty syringe. I wanted to laugh out loud. What damage did he think that would do against me?
I allowed him to stand up. He was shaken and he held the syringe tightly in his right hand. If he thought for a moment that a syringe was going to stop me, he was crazier than I thought. But on the other hand I was glad he wasn't giving up so easily. I wanted an excuse to tear him limb from limb and he was giving me one.
He smiled as he filled the syringe with air. What was he planning?
I growled just before I leaped at him again. I knocked him down to the floor again and I stood beside him, growling.
It was then I noticed the syringe was missing from his hand. I'd probably made him drop it when I'd attacked him.
He groaned as he lay on the floor. He'd shown me no sympathy when our roles had been reversed so I wasn't going to show him any now.
I could make it quick but after hearing what he'd done to my parents I wasn't going to kill him quickly; instead, I was going to make him suffer. I growled and I bit down on his arm. He screamed and tried to pull away but my teeth hooked into his flesh and I refused to let go. His blood seeped into my mouth as I bit down harder.
The wolf inside of me took over, and I began to rip into him. Piece by piece he screamed and begged but I wasn't going to stop until I couldn't hear his heart beating anymore. The only outcome for him was death. There was no way I was going to allow him to leave this cell alive. My actions became more frenzied as I bit him over and over again.
Finally, bloodied and barely hanging on, he lay unmoving on the cold floor as I stood beside him. His blood dripped from my mouth and covered most of my fur. His body was full of bite marks and a pool of blood was beginning to form around his body. His eyes met mine one last time.
It was time.
I didn't hesitate for a second. I wrapped my powerful jaws around his neck and bit down, allowing my teeth to sink into his flesh. He didn't make a sound as I tore at his throat with my razor-sharp teeth.
I stepped back. His eyes were open but unseeing. He was dead.
My nightmare was finally over.
The adrenaline wore off and exhaustion made me collapse on the floor. I shifted back and the pain that I'd been able to block out rushed back and I gasped.
Pain in my shoulder made me look to see the syringe embedded into my skin. The syringe was empty. I realized he'd injected me with air.
I had no idea what that meant. I winced as I pulled the syringe out and threw it on the floor beside Victor's dead body.
Time was running out and I had to get out of there before anyone from Victor's pack came looking for him.
With strength that I didn't know I had, I got onto my hands and feet and I stood up. For a moment I swayed but then the dizziness passed. Every part of my body hurt and I wanted to get away quickly but the severity of my injuries stopped me.
I shuffled out of the cell and into a hallway. I tried to be as quiet as possible as I moved down the hall. At a set of stairs, I peered upward, but there was no one. Slowly I climbed the stairs, step by step. Blood mingled with sweat dripped off my face, and I wiped it with my hand.
The top of the stairs opened up into some sort of room that looked like it was used for storage. I moved through the room past the boxes that filled its entire length. I turned the handle of the door and opened it cautiously.
I'd managed to kill Victor, but if Keri or another member of his pack discovered me now I would be as good as dead.
The door led outside. The sun was shining and I squinted to be able to see. I was near a forest. I let my eyes scan the grassy area but I had no idea where I was. There were no other buildings.
I'd at least expected to hear a helicopter but there was silence.
Suddenly I dropped to my knees and swayed. I couldn't go on anymore.
Scar!
For a moment I thought I was imagining things and then I heard it again.
Scar!
I felt the sting of tears as I scanned the area and then I spotted him. His wolf form was magnificent and I felt a tear slide down when it sank in that he was safe. He ran to me as fast as he could.
I felt a pain in my heart and I gasped at my chest. My body crumpled to the ground.
And then there was nothing, and my pain was gone.
Cade
We're under attack!
As soon as the thought hit my mind I went into alpha mode. My main concern was to keep my pack and Scar safe.
I heard Blake issue commands to some of the werewolves that had remained on his property. He wanted every werewolf that wasn't ordered to look after the females and children to get to us as soon as they could.
I began to issue orders to Jake through the mind-link as Blake and I rushed out of the study.
Get the off-duty fighters together. I'm on my way.
The on-duty fighters would be fighting the attacking wolves already here. Hopefully, they hadn't breached the gate yet.
Once outside the house, we both shifted.
The gate at the bottom by the compound was untouched but I could hear the snarls and growls of wolves fighting just outside. My fighters were struggling to hold off the incoming attack.
I knew that it was Victor's pack attacking us before the scent of the invading werewolves hit me.
I was out of options. Even with the additional fighters from Blake's pack we didn't have anywhere near enough fighters to defend ourselves.
At the closed gate, I turned to face my fighters.
I was taken aback to see nearly all the females from my pack in human form surrounding the fighters, who had all shifted into wolf form.
We want to fight, requested one of the females via the mind-link.
I didn't want them to but I didn't know if I had a choice. If the fighters couldn't keep the attacking pack out of the compound they would slaughter or enslave them. With the additional numbers of females that could fight we might have a chance to survive the attack.
I looked to Blake.
We have no choice, he thought.
For a moment I thought about Scarlett and her constant fighting with me to allow females to fight alongside their male counterparts. It was finally about to happen and she wouldn't see it.
She was safe in the cell being sedated so that Curtis could put her on a drip. Through my actions I'd left her unable to protect herself but I couldn't think about that now.
I turned back to face my pack.
Only females that can shift will be allowed to fight: if you want to fight, shift into your wolf form, I instructed through the mind-link.
I watched as the females from my pack began to shift. I was astounded at how many shifted into their wolf forms. Only a handful of females remained.
You protect the children, I instructed to them. Someone needed to stay behind to keep the kids safe.
Take the children to the bunker.
It was built into the main house. I looked to one of the females that was to remain with the children. Her name was Sue.
Tell Curtis to move Scarlett into the bunker and take Gary with you.
I had to do everything I could to keep her safe. If she were in the bunker with the kids it would give her added protection, although nothing would keep her safe if we didn't win this fight.
We can't hold them off much longer, Jake informed me desperately through the mind-link.
Open the gates, I instructed to a couple of fighters. Adrenaline began to pump through my veins as I watched the big iron gates swing open.
My fighters were outnumbered but they were doing their best to keep the attacking pack at bay. They'd formed two lines of fighters that surrounded the gates, and as the wolves attacked they fought them off, keeping them from breaking the line of defense.
I looked back quickly to the members of my pack.
Attack! I commanded.
I turned to start running toward the middle of my line of fighters. They allowed us to pass as I led the rest of my pack against the vicious aggressor pack. The gates closed behind us, giving the weaker members of our pack added protection.
In that moment, I gave in to the animal inside of me. When the first wolf attacked me I ripped into its throat and it was dead before it hit the floor. One by one I tore into the attacking wolves with no mercy.
Blake was taking out as many as I was. His jaw locked around a wolf and he tore its throat out. The wolf slumped to the floor. But as hard as we were fighting I feared it wouldn't be enough.
Scarlett is missing.
The thought came to me through the mind-link from Sue, the female I'd instructed to tell Curtis to move Scarlett into the bunker.
I hesitated for a moment. A wolf I hadn't seen coming because of the distraction leaped into the air and was about to take me down.
Blake shot in front of me, taking a hold of the wolf by its throat. He threw it down on the ground. It whimpered but it never got back up.
Where is Curtis? I asked Sue, feeling a franticness I'd never felt take over me. I wanted to rush back to the house and look for her but I couldn't leave my pack.
I can't find him, she answered worriedly.
Every possible scenario flitted through my mind but nothing I came up with made sense. Why would Curtis and Scarlett be missing? Had he moved her somewhere else?
At that same moment, I don't know if it was fate or just pure luck but I smelled the scent of another pack. I looked up to see Kyle and his pack surround Victor's pack from the opposite side. Relief and fear flooded through me at the same time.
I need to go and find Scar, I said to Blake.
Go! he replied as he growled at a werewolf about to attack him.
I didn't waste another moment, and I ran back into the compound. It was only when I reached the main house did I shift back into human form.
It had to be a mistake. She had to be somewhere. True to Sue's words, though, the cell that had held Scarlett was empty.
Fuck!
My heart was beating so fast I could hear it pounding in my ears. I was living one of my worst fears. The only option that seemed to make sense was that Curtis had betrayed me and taken Scarlett. He was human; so I had no idea why or where he would take her.
It made no sense.
An overriding fear that I'd left her vulnerable to being taken clutched at my heart.
Cade! Blake shouted to me through the mind-link. One of the guys I had watching Keri just reported back.
I had no idea that he'd had someone watching her.
They saw her get into a car, and the driver of the car was Curtis.
Why would Keri be getting into a car with Curtis? If Curtis was with her did that mean Scarlett was with them?
I'll go check it out. Who is watching them? I asked so that I would know who to mind-link with.
Gabe.
Gabe was a member of Blake's pack that had joined with mine.
Where are you? I asked Gabe through the mind-link. Gabe gave me the address but told me that they were on the move.
It looks like they are on their way into Victor's territory, he told me.
Victor! I knew he had to be behind this.
I mind-linked to a couple of my pack's fighters to order them back to the compound. I had no idea what was going on but there was no way I was going in without some sort of backup.
If I fucked up, Scarlett could die.
Minutes later we all got into a couple of cars and raced out of the property. I drove the car as fast as I could. Time was of the essence and I couldn't waste even one moment.
They have just entered Victor's territory, Gabe told me, and gave me directions to the area.
It took me thirty minutes before our cars pulled up alongside Gabe's and we all got out.
Curtis and Keri are werewolves, Gabe informed me as I came to a standstill beside him. The statement threw me. I had no idea. How had they been able to cover that up?
They belong to Victor's pack, he told me.
From where we stood I spotted them loading some stuff into a helicopter. It was time to take action. We shifted into our wolf forms and then we crept up and surrounded them before they could run. They were outnumbered and they knew it.
I shifted as my fighters, who were now in human form as well, held Keri and Curtis in front of me. They looked at me defiantly.
"Where is she?" I spat at Curtis but he refused to talk. It was hard to think that I'd trusted him. The betrayal I felt—I pushed it down. I couldn't let that cloud my mind.
I was about to make him talk with the persuasion of my fists when I got a faint whiff of a scent.
It was Scarlett. I could smell her.
I shifted so that I would be able to smell her scent better and I followed it through the field. It got stronger.
Scar! I called out to her. Then I spotted a building and, at the open door on her knees, was Scarlett. Relief filled me at the sight of her. She was alive.
Scar! I called out to her again as I ran as fast as I could to her. Two of my fighters followed behind me.
I watched with horror as she clutched her heart and gasped in pain. She crumpled to the floor like a broken doll.
I shifted the moment I reached her. I reached for her and lay her gently on her back. I scanned her face frantically trying to figure out what had happened.
The bruises and blood made my heart crack. She'd been beaten badly.
"Scarlett, talk to me," I said, desperation creeping into my voice. I had no idea what was wrong.
Then I heard her heart stop beating.